Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Apellis Pharmaceuticals received an upgrade from a "sell" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a more cautious outlook by analysts.
• Price targets for the company have varied among analysts, with Raymond James lowering it to $50.00 and Bank of America increasing it to $24.00, reflecting differing perspectives on the company's future performance.
• The company's most recent earnings report showed a quarterly revenue decline of 10.6% year-over-year, with an EPS of ($0.33), slightly exceeding analysts' expectations.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on APLS. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.83.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.1%

NASDAQ APLS traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $23.68. The company had a trading volume of 794,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,291,909. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $16.10 and a fifty-two week high of $41.94. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.01 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 3.77 and a quick ratio of 3.16. The firm's 50 day moving average is $19.04 and its 200 day moving average is $21.71.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.11. The company had revenue of $171.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $187.91 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.24% and a negative return on equity of 116.09%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.30) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total transaction of $97,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 128,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,516,671.50. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 137,465 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $2,775,418.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,933,912.27. This trade represents a 28.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 169,090 shares of company stock valued at $3,403,832 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APLS. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,938.7% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 3,185 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,855 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,819.2% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,992 shares of the company's stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 3,784 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company's stock.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutic compounds through the inhibition of the complement system for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. It offers EMPAVELI for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, C3 glomerulopathy and immune complex membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy; and SYFOVRE for treating geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration and geographic atrophy (GA).